Big bro placement

Just getting into leading wide cracks, and I had a curious quandary. If all you can place in a crack is big bros, including your first piece, when you fall, aren't all but the top piece going to zipper out of the crack? How much outward pull can they take?

Not to mention, if all those pieces zippered, your belayer would then have several guided hefty pieces of aluminum rocketing towards his position, and gaining speed...

Well, the simple solution is not to fall. Second, always sling bros long enough that zippering is impossible. They can take a fair amount of outward force, but you shouldn't be clipping just the sling on them anyway. So toss a shoulder length sling on there.

David,
A well placed Big Bro can take quite a bit of outward force and is usually more stable than a given cam. A poorly placed Big Bro, however, should not be relied on to hold much.

Brian had it right. Don't get yourself and your 'Bros into a situation where there might be a big outward force. A lazy belayer will stand out 20' feet from the base of a route while belaying because that's where the rock seat is or because they don't have to crane their neck quite so much. Belaying your leader from a position that doesn't create a huge bend in the rope at the first piece eliminates many potential problems. Being crafty with runners will usually alleviate the rest.

Climb safe,
Mal

Big bros are one of the trickiest pieces of pro to place well. In a parallel sided crack, they never look good. If you can find a perfect spot in a nice tapering crack or with the right features they are very good, but these placements are rare. In my experience you usually slide the things around and nothing looks that great. Cams are much simpler, in theory, but the big ones can walk around and pull out sideways if you're not careful too.

Brian, by your reasoning, then why place gear at all?

Thanks for the advice, all.

It's helpful to bounce the hell out of a couple ground-level bro placements to help get a sense of how they are going to fail. Be sure to learn how to place them with one hand, while holding your breath, since that's how you're gong to be using them on the sharp end.

George Bell wrote:Big bros are one of the trickiest pieces of pro to place well. In a parallel sided crack, they never look good. If you can find a perfect spot in a nice tapering crack or with the right features they are very good, but these placements are rare. In my experience you usually slide the things around and nothing looks that great. Cams are much simpler, in theory, but the big ones can walk around and pull out sideways if you're not careful too.

DaveB wrote: Agreed. Seems like the best, most consistent, placements for Big Bros is at the bottom of backpacks, gear closets, and car trunks. (At least that's where I usually see them.)